Please Note
Ja, bring on the weekend ……… !!!!
Regards
Snooper
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THE ZAC SUTHERLAND UPDATE
Zac's Blog
My name is Zac Sunderland and I am 17 years old. I departed 14th June 2008 from Marina del Rey, California in an attempt to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the world alone by yacht.
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Further tales from our long haired solo sailor !
Photo : Jen Edney,
Caption : Well, that be ME !!!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
East London Update
Hello All!
Spoke with Zac a few minutes ago. He is tied up in East London and has spent the day tidying up Intrepid, eating and sleeping. He had slowed the boat down to about 3 knots just riding the current during his night and hopped out of the current and in to East London later than expected.
He was greeted warmly by the other cruisers who threw out some fenders for him to side tie (the last of 4 boats tied together!).
Many thanks to Will for keeping an eye out for Zac and reporting back. I got a little worried there for a minute but we had arranged with Zac to call in our morning unless he had a problem. He'll be in East London for a few days until the front passes through and then on to Port Elizabeth.
He was planning a quiet evening and will send over his blog this evening.
Cheers,
Marianne
posted by Zac at 8:53 AM
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Visit www.zacsutherland.com
YouTube Videos http://www.youtube.com/zacsvideos
Blog http://www.zacsunderland.com/blog/
Email zacsworldadventure@yahoo.com
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Mike Perham aged 16, the youngest person to sail across the atlantic solo now has his eye's on an even more adventurous challenge.
To become the youngest person to sail around the world solo in an open 50 racing yacht.
In the Swing of Things - 14 01 09
I started the day with my routine through check of the boat. This consists of checking over every piece of deck equipment, walking to the bow and back on both sides of Totallymoney.com, checking all the rigging. This is followed with a careful look inside, checking the aft compartment and the forward sail locker.
Every couple of days I venture into both the watertight compartments forward of the sail locker, looking for cracks in any of the carbon for anything that shouldn't be there!
Today, all was clear and I came back and started having a good tidy and organised the inside of Totallymoney.com with the stereo on. Typical teenager’s bedroom some might say! A towel and clothes were draped over the chart table seat, a few bags were running around on the floor and the rubbish bin was packed to the brim.
I'm pleased to report all of this has now been tidied away in their respective places on board, and there’s a nice new and clean feel about the boat. I had the chance this afternoon to sit outside on the beanbag where I spent a long time eating lunch; it stays hot for ages inside the freeze-dried packets so I can even leave it for half an hour and then come back to it.
Also today I've rigged up a new way of holding the laptop I use for my routing firmly in place and have made a foam cushion for it. This means that if I gybe unexpectedly then the laptop isn't going to go flying across to the cabin to a not so pleasant death!
Progress south has been good and steady which I'm pleased about, and we seem to be making good time for the upwind conditions. Gradually, as I head further and further south I’ll be in the running conditions that Totallymoney.com and I excel in!
I pressed a button on the autopilot today and the damn thing switched off and reset itself again. Maybe I just won't touch it from now on and will somehow sail around the world 50-55degrees off the wind! Somehow I don't think this will happen though!
Apart from that, Totallymoney.com and I totally in the swing of things now and we're both more happy and relaxed than we've ever been on our adventure so far.
Visit : http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/
Blog : http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/?cat=5
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Australia - Defence audit finds $3bn to cut
Mark Dodd | January 14, 2009
Article from: The Australian
A RUTHLESS independent audit of the defence budget recommends cutting spending by $3billion and slashing the number of civilian staff employed by a department renowned for its lack of accountability and billion-dollar blowouts.
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon is examining the draft independent audit, designed to bring the department into line with the Rudd Government's efficiency demands.
Defence sources, who asked not to be named, said annual spending, now running at $24billion, could be cut by up to $3billion.
The Australian understands the audit is also recommending a big reduction in the number of civilian staff employed by Defence, which has skyrocketed since 2001 to about 20,000.
"Defence are going to go ballistic when they get this," a senior analyst said yesterday. "They'll fight it tooth and nail."
A government official familiar with the draft yesterday denied the size of the proposed cuts.
The sweeping proposals are contained in the Pappas McKinsey defence budget audit, which Mr Fitzgibbon implemented last May amid concerns over the number of troubled defence acquisitions initiated by the Howard government and the need for greater efficiency, especially in project management.
That need was underlined last year when the Rudd Government axed the navy's long-delayed Seasprite helicopter contract, which had cost more than $1billion. But it was not alone.
The list of other delayed or troubled billion-dollar defence contracts is long.
George Pappas, a former senior vice-president of Boston Consulting Group, has been hailed as a good choice for the job of making savings in one of the Government's most demanding areas.
"His independent audit will be a key tool in our efforts to put the dysfunctional defence budget we've inherited back on track," Mr Fitzgibbon told the National Press Club in July.
With total defence spending of $24 billion last year, demands for more efficiency have been spurred by the onset of the global financial crisis. The Rudd Government is also committed to 3per cent real annual growth in Defence's underlying funding base to 2015-16.
Opposition defence spokesman David Johnston said that pledge had been undermined by a demand that Defence find $10billion in savings in the next 10 years. A senior defence analyst familiar with the audit's recommended $3 billion budget cuts said they were feasible.
"In one year, I suspect it is," he said. "If you look at the underspend last year -- about $1billion -- and then the total dearth of (new contract) approvals, what, since the Rudd Government has been in power, has been approved? I do know from a senior Defence guy that Pappas has been really putting the pressure on them and putting them through the hoops.
"(Pappas) knew where to go and look for efficiencies and he was looking deeper than just the balance sheet; he was looking at management structure."
Allan Behm, a former head of the Defence Department's international policy and strategy division, said considerable savings could be achieved in several areas, ranging from excessive air travel to inadequate contract management.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24910252-2702,00.html
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Growth slows at northern Chinese main port
Tianjin port operators say total cargo volume is expected to rise 7.3% this year to 380-million tons against last year's throughput increase of 15% to 354-mt, reports Bloomberg News.
That means 2009 is expected to take away some, but not all of 2008's gain when container volume increased 20% last year to 8.5-m TEU, according to figures released by the Tianjin Port Group.
Northern China's busiest port, Tianjin plans to handle 9.5-m TEU in 2009, according to a statement on its website.
Story By : Alan Peat
Date :1/14/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7181
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India plans to upgrade its fighters
India is upgrading its MiG-27 fighters to sharpen their strike capabilities, officials said on Wednesday, even as experts say the recent Mumbai attacks have exposed the country's need to modernise its defence forces.
Although the upgrade was planned well ahead of the attacks, officials said the defence ministry wants to speed up modernisation of its forces to tackle any future security threat.
The upgrading comes at a time when tension runs high with Pakistan over Mumbai and India is saying it has all options open to deal with "terror outfits" in Pakistan.
India is spending $92 million to develop the fighters with precise navigational equipment, better weapons aiming and accurate ranging sensors for hitting ground targets.
India is looking to spend $30 billion on imports over the next five years to modernise its largely Soviet-era arms and is also trying to strengthen its navy by introducing new weapons systems.
The MiG-27 aircraft was originally built in the former Soviet Union in the mid-1970s before it was licenced to be produced in India.
India, fast becoming one of the world's biggest arms importers, wants to modernise its air force, the fourth largest in the world, to cope with possible security threats in the region, security experts said.
India is also considering upgrading of its other fighter fleet, including Mirage 2000s, Jaguars and MiG 29s, ahead of procuring the new generation Sukhoi-30MKIs, officials said.
It has also invited bids for a contract to supply 126 multi-role fighter jets, potentially worth more than $10 billion.
http://www.defenceindia.com/defenceind/news227.html
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German navy in operations off Somalia
By Marius Heuser
14 January 2009
For more than two weeks, Germany has been conducting naval operations in the Gulf of Aden, in order to secure the international sea routes.
According to Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung (Christian Democratic Union, CDU), this is "the most robust mandate" in Germany's post-war history. Jung had flown to Djibouti to see off the frigate Karlsruhe. No longer was it a matter of providing "aid, protection and mediation," as in earlier operations, Jung stressed, but the forces could expressly engage in combat. The mandate, passed by the Bundestag (federal parliament) in December by a large majority, sanctions German military personnel not only to attack hostile ships but also to sink them.
The despatch of the frigate Karlsruhe is only the beginning. When required, the frigate Mecklenburg Vorpommern can also be used directly for support. This ship is presently working in the region with a clearly weaker mandate within the framework of Operation Enduring Freedom under US leadership. Under the new mandate, up to 1,400 German military personnel can now be deployed in the Gulf of Aden.
The deployment is part of the European Union operation Atlanta, which was passed on November 10, 2008 by the EU Council as an anti-piracy measure. Five to ten countries are participating in the operation, including France and Britain. Operational headquarters are in London, with a mobile command post alternating between Greece, Spain and the Netherlands.
In addition to the European armed forces, ships from Russia, the US, China and Iran are also deployed in the Gulf of Aden.
This massive concentration of foreign military in the region was made possible by UN resolution 1816, passed on June 2, 2008. This lifted Somali sovereignty over the country's own coastal waters and permits any military power in the world to deploy a mission against the alleged pirates, even inside the 12-mile area directly off the Somali coast. This also covers air space.
The number of pirates operating off the Somalia coast has increased considerably in recent years, after the US-supported invasion of the country by Ethiopian troops. Various sources put the figures between 100 and 300 pirate attacks, with 39 to 200 ships being captured, out of an estimated 16,000-30,000 ships passing through the region annually. Altogether about $50 million in ransom has been obtained by hijacking ships.
The enormous military operation, however, cannot be explained simply by the fight against piracy. In times of economic crisis, none of the world's great powers want to cede control of this important maritime route to their competitors, and through which the majority of the Asia-Europe trade runs. The geo-strategic significance of such commercial sea routes is comparable with aggressively contested oil and gas pipelines. Germany alone imports 56 percent of its crude oil by sea and a high percentage of Germany's foreign trade is also transported by sea.
Under the banner of the fight against piracy, international disputes are beginning over commercial routes and sea lanes that can result in violent military conflicts.
Already in the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, the "war on terror" has been used to justify imperialist politics. The German government is now fashioning a close link between the fight against "terrorism" and its anti-piracy operation.
The Atlanta deployment and the US' Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan are closely linked, as shown by the example of the frigate Mecklenburg Vorpommern. According to a security strategy paper of the Christian Democrats' parliamentary group from May 6 last year: "The spread of organized crime in weak states makes the threat of terrorism even more serious. War, extremism and terrorism are being financed out of the proceeds of criminal activities, particularly from the drugs trade, but also from the illegal trade in arms, human trafficking, money laundering or piracy."
Birgit Homburger of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) expressed this link even more clearly when she told the Bundestag: "Cross-border international terrorism can no longer be differentiated from piracy and organized crime." She demanded that operations Atlanta and Enduring Freedom be combined.
The economic interests that lie behind the deployment of the German navy were also openly enunciated in the Bundestag. Whereas humanitarian or at least security policy arguments were stressed during earlier debates about the deployment of Germany's armed forces, the emphasis in the current debate was about respecting "German interests."
For example, on December17, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Social Democratic Party, SPD) said, "Operation Atlanta should also improve the security of civilian navigation in the region, something in which we Germans also have an interest. The Gulf of Aden is the backbone for the flow of trade between Europe and Asia; 20,000 ships a year. Many of these belong to German shipping companies that transport goods to or from Germany."
Defence Minister Jung also invoked German interests when he implored the deputies to make "a contribution to restoring security on the seas and to guarantee free maritime trade," since "we are export world champions."
His party colleague Dorothee Bär concretized this point: "It is not only the Gulf of Aden that is threatened; the liberty of world trade is also threatened. The most important trade routes between Europe, the Arab peninsula and Asia pass through the sea lanes off Somalia. Numerous German export goods reach their destinations on ships passing through the waters round the Horn of Africa. As an export nation, we have a vital interest in preventing or limiting attacks on civilian shipping. That applies to us in Germany, but it also applies to all of Europe."
The FDP accused the government of inactivity. Piracy should have been opposed much sooner, Birgit Homburger insisted: "This behaviour has disgraced the German navy." She also advocated taking harsher action against the pirates. "It is not only necessary to chase away the pirates but also to hunt down the pirates," she said.
This militaristic language, and the openness with which the various parties have endorsed a substantial military mission in the interests of German big business, shows the advanced extent of the imperialist ambitions of Germany's ruling elite. It is no longer prepared to factor in the widespread opposition in Germany to militarism and war in the implementation of its interests.
The fact that the parties in the Bundestag can behave so shamelessly is also linked to the fact that none of them advocates a principled opposition to military combat missions. While the Left Party was the only parliamentary group to vote against the government motion, the party expressly endorses the use of force against piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
Left Party deputy Norman Paech made this clear at the beginning of his speech. "In order to preclude any misunderstanding: The Left Party is for the security of the sea and trade routes and considers protection from piracy to be absolutely necessary and indispensable." Paech simply believes that a naval mission is the wrong way to proceed. He wants to send the Bundespolizei (German federal police) to Somalia.
This was also confirmed by his parliamentary colleague Paul Schäfer: "The Left Party endorses the rapid construction of an international coast guard under the leadership of the UN in close coordination with the African Union. Germany should participate by means of the Bundespolizei and render financial support."
While the Left Party proposes "better ways" to protect international sea and trade routes, the government is converting the armed forces into an international intervention army with ability to implement Germany's geo-strategic interests everywhere in the world against its rivals.
Among the official tasks of Germany's armed forces, the government's 1992 defence policy guidelines included the "Promotion and security of worldwide political, economic, military and ecological stability," as well as the "maintenance of free world trade and access to strategic raw materials."
The SPD-Green Party government then intensified this course and sent the armed forces on numerous military missions. This was then laid down in 2003 in a new version of the defence policy guidelines, which extended the potential operational area for Germany's armed forces to the entire globe and adopted the military doctrine of intimidation and preventive war developed by the US government as the guide for German defence policy.
In restructuring the German military into an aggressive intervention force, the development of the navy is a crucial factor. Ever since German reunification in 1990, the size of the navy has been systematically increased. Whereas in 1990 it represented 7.5 percent of the overall armed forces, it is now closer to 10 percent. In terms of defence expenditure, the proportion spent on the navy is rising even more rapidly.
In 1898, when the German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm began to develop its own deep-sea fleet, this German-English arms race led directly to the First World War. The building of the first armoured ships in 1928 under SPD Chancellor Hermann Müller, finally heralded German rearmament and the rejection of the restrictions on the size of Germany's fleet contained in the Treaty of Versailles. The global military ambitions of a great power require a well-equipped navy.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jan2009/germ-j14.shtml
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Solution to piracy lies in assisting Somalia's poor
Rod Swain
Issue date: 1/14/09
Off the coast of East Africa, Somali pirates have been terrorizing international shipping interests in recent months. More than 100 ships were attacked by pirates last year in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's most important sea routes. In most cases the attackers, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, are after the products carried on cargo ships or a hefty ransom from the ships' owners. Indeed, more than $150 million in ransom money was delivered to Somali pirates during 2008.
The violence has prompted shipping companies to change their routes, raising both fuel consumption and costs, and has delayed the arrival of much needed humanitarian aid to the region.
This rather sizeable contingent of sea-faring bandits is made up of militia-men, fresh from fighting in on-going civil war in Somalia, and unemployed local fishermen. The combined effect of over-fishing by international companies and the devastation caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has caused many Somali anglers to lose their livelihoods. With most citizens living on an income of less than $2 a day, and with slow-moving, wealthy cargo ships cruising offshore in one of the world's busiest commercial sea lanes, it is easy to see why many young Somali men have been drawn into these gangs of pirates.
With Somalia's weak and largely ineffectual central government unable to intervene, the international community has been called upon to help deal with the pirate problem. Under the auspices of a United Nations mandate, 18 countries have assembled a naval armada that would frighten even Johnny Depp and his cohorts from the Pirates movies. These warships will conduct anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden in an effort to protect their respective commercial sea interests and assist the Somali government. In a surprise move, even China has sent a naval presence to the area. This sort of international involvement and cooperation by the Chinese (who have even agreed to protect Taiwanese ships near Somalia) has not been seen in decades.
So far, the UN response has produced mixed results. The pirates have become more adventurous in recent months, taking on supertankers loaded with millions of gallons of valuable crude oil. These sorts of attacks have continued into 2009 with at least five attempted hijackings in the first five days of January. However, with the help of international troops, most of those attacks were successfully repelled. The Somali pirates simply do not have the firepower to compete with foreign naval ships and war planes.
Despite this international pressure facing the Somali pirates, the men continue to enjoy at least some support from local populations on shore. In a country that has been devastated by more than 20 years of civil war, the ransom money brought in by the pirates is a welcome sight. They are spending cash in local stores, and creating new jobs and opportunities. In some cases, the money has been used to buy diesel generators, providing Somali towns with an uncommon luxury: reliable electricity.
So, while the UN-backed naval force will likely help curb piracy off the coast of Somalia, it is not a permanent solution to the problem. It appears that the attention of the international community is directed squarely at the symptom (piracy), and not at the underlying illness (a weakened Somalia). As long as the region is politically unstable and economically impoverished, piracy will remain a viable option for the young men of Somalia, and the attacks will continue.
Rod Swain
is a senior in international studies. He can be reached at swain.62@osu.edu.
http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2009/01/14/Opinion/Solution.To.Piracy.Lies.In.Assisting.Somalias.Poor-3585227.shtml
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January 13, 2009
Eidesvik takes delivery of X-bow construction vessel
Eidesvik Offshore ASA has, through its associate Eidesvik OCV KS, today taken delivery of the X-bowed construction vessel M/V Viking Poseidon from Ulstein Verft.
Viking Poseidon left Ulsteinvik to be fitted out with a 250-tonne offshore crane just before Christmas.
"We took her around Stadt, a very rough sea area along the Norwegian coast, and the wind reached hurricane strength," says Ulstein Verft sea trial captain and manager for the aftermarket department Frank Strandebø.
The hurricane force winds generated waves of around 12 m and the vessel showed great seakeeping qualities.
"We hardly noticed the rough sea. We really got to confirm that the Ulstein X-Bow functions according to its intentions," says Strandebø.
Viking Poseidon is signed up for a long-term contract with Veolia ES Special Services Inc. (USA). The ship will be a base for advanced ROV vehicles that will inspect and repair offshore installations in the Gulf of Mexico. The contract is for eight years with options.
The vessel is a large Subsea Construction vessel, type SX121 with the innovative ULSTEIN X-BOW design. It has an overall length of 130 m, breadth of 25 m and a large cargo deck area of 1,700 sq.m. Up to 105 persons can be accommodated and the vessel is equipped with two moonpools, a 250 tons active heave compensated offshore crane, ROV-hangar, diesel-electric machinery and helicopter deck.
A long-term facility of NOK 608 million has been drawn with Eksportfinans ASA to finance the vessel. The loan is guaranteed by GIEK and Sparebank 1 SR-bank.
The vessel will commence an 8 year contract with Veolia ES Special Services Inc when the sea trials of the offshore crane are completed.
http://www.marinelog.com/DOCS/NEWSMMIX/2009jan00126.html
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Viraat is in shallow waters
R S Vasan
First Published : 14 Jan 2009 01:02:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 14 Jan 2009 07:41:35 AM IST
As per the intelligence reports of US and European intelligence agencies, India’s lone carrier INS Viraat could be attacked by a hijacked helicopter or an aircraft. It should not come as a surprise that the lone aircraft carrier Viraat undergoing repairs at Kochi shipyard is a target of terrorists.
Way back in 1971, a US leased Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi was sent to track and destroy the carrier Vikrant. At that time it was deployed in the Bay of Bengal in the war for the liberation of Bangladesh.
The carrier was tracked for months all through its passage from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal by Ghazi whose mission it was to sink the carrier.
The well-documented naval records and analysis indicate that it was some very clever planning, deceptive measures and intelligent use of disinformation about the movement of INS Vikrant that brought the submarine to the entrance of Vizag. Ghazi waited at the doorstep of Vizag believing that Vikrant would enter the port for replenishing its stock, at which time it could be attacked. While there are still some doubts as to how Ghazi met its end, it is certain that she was sunk at the mouth of this important harbour in the process of trying to mine the approaches to the harbour. At the time of her sinking, Vikrant was busy planning attacks on the marine and shore targets at Khulna, Cox’s Bazaar and Chittagong. The successful operation by the aircraft carrier witnessed the use of both the Alize and Sea Hawk aircraft from its deck. The carrier fleet also successfully blockaded the coasts of the then East Pakistan and prevented both ingress and egress of men and material thus accelerating the process of surrender of the forces led by General Niazi on December 16, 1971. This paved the way for creation of “Sonar Bangla”.
Readers would also recall the stance of the US Seventh Fleet which was posturing in the Bay of Bengal, threatening to intervene on behalf of Pakistan. It has been speculated that the then Soviet nuclear submarines in the Indian Ocean were allowed to surface to let American satellites and policy makers know that they were ready to challenge the Seventh Fleet to honour the defence treaty that was signed between India and the Soviet Union.
Vikrant was ultimately decommissioned in the Nineties and there are attempts to maintain it as a floating museum.
Viraat, originally HMS Hermes that had seen action in the Falklands war was bought as a second-hand ship to fill the gap in the early Nineties as Vikrant had outlived its utility. While the naval planners always tried hard to have two operational aircraft carriers, this has just not happened due to many constraints.
Our own air defence ship (ADS) is also being built by the same shipyard where Viraat, which is under threat, is undergoing repairs and refit. While Viraat came equipped to operate the STOVL (Short Take Off and Vertical Landing) Sea Harrier aircraft, Vikrant underwent many refits and modernisation to be able to operate such sophisticated aircraft on board. The ADS is being planned to operate both the Sea Harrier as well as the MIG 29 aircraft that was to operate from the Russian carrier Gorshkov (to be renamed INS Vikramaditya). Unfortunately, the process of repair and refit of this ship has run into rough weather on many occasions due to both time and cost overruns. The upward revision of the costs and the consequent time delays have forced the Indian Navy to continue to extend the life of Viraat, which is central to its concept of operations in exercising sea control in areas of interest.
Any successful terrorist attack on the carrier would be devastating and demoralising for the navy as well as the nation at a time when they are trying to come to grips with the post-Mumbai attacks scenario.
The inputs and analysis of the recent Mumbai terror attack from the sea have brought out the fact that the Pakistan Navy and the ISI trained over 500 volunteers in marine warfare and selected over 30 for sea borne terrorist attacks. Of the ten terrorists who came by boat nine were killed and Ajmal Amir Kasab is under police custody.
There are still questions about the number of terrorists who landed on the coast. It was also reported that while the fishing vessel Kuber carried evidence of 15 terrorists being carried and also the possibility of a second rubber dinghy being onboard, it is still not certain if some of the terrorists landed elsewhere along the coast and are waiting to strike at chosen assets including the carrier/ port facilities at Kochi or even targets on the east coast.
In a television interview that was recently telecast, Markam, the deputy commandant of the CISF at Kochi, indicated that he came to know of the threat to Viraat from some news channel on December 23, 2008, raising uncomfortable questions yet again about the process of dissemination of such intelligence to those concerned. Coming close on the heels of the Mumbai terror attack, where serious doubts were raised about intelligence sharing and the provision of actionable intelligence, it only shows that the agencies concerned have not learned from the collective failures.
The reasons for the CISF not being informed by the appropriate agency need thorough investigation. That the media was aware of the process by which such intelligence (about a possible Lashkar attack) was gathered by western agencies is illustrative of the fact that someone in the government may have been aware and would have alerted those concerned. But the agency, namely CISF, that is tasked with the security of the port and also the Kochi ship yard was not aware of this till the media reported it is disturbing and would have rung alarm bells in the southern naval command and the shipyard.
It has now been reported that the navy, the Coast Guard, CISF and other security agencies have thrown a multi-tier security cordon around the pride of India. Though there are no reports about the involvement of the Indian Air Force which has a command located at Thiruvananthapuram, it is safe to assume that they would have been alerted at least now about the possible attempt to use a hijacked aircraft or a helicopter loaded with explosives to attack the carrier.
Finally, it is clear that all those in the security/intelligence loop, ports, nuclear installations, off shore assets, refineries and other vital assets would need to be alive to the possibility of more assets along either coast being targeted by ISI-trained terrorists who have acquired the skills and proficiency of marine commandos. With the option of using the sea lines of communication around peninsular India and the possible use of uninhabited islands on both flanks, the vigilance needs to be stepped up immediately
About the author:
Commodore R S Vasan is Head, Strategy and Security Studies, Centre for Asian Studies, Chennai.
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Viraat+is+in+shallow+waters&artid=P0h2h4rD6%7CU=&SectionID=XVSZ2Fy6Gzo=&MainSectionID=XVSZ2Fy6Gzo=&SectionName=m3GntEw72ik=
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IDF: Israeli Navy didn't engage Iranian aid ship
Iranian Red Crescent says 'Zionist navy' prevented vessel from reaching Gaza Strip
Dudi Cohen Published: 01.13.09, 18:52 / Israel News
IDF officials denied Tuesday Iran's claims that the Israeli Navy prevented an Iranian vessel carrying humanitarian supplies from reaching the Gaza Strip. The IDF Spokesperson's Office said that the Navy did not engage in any contact with the Iranian vessel.
Earlier Tuesday, Iran's Red Crescent Director Ahmed Musawi said that "the Zionist regime's Navy prevented the organization's vessel from reaching Gaza." The comments were reported by Iranian news agency Maher. The report did not provide any further details aside from noting that the ship's request to enter Gaza's territorial waters was rejected.
Musawi said the Navy stopped the Iranian vessel about 20 miles away from Gaza, while according to international conventions a naval blockade may only be imposed 12 miles away from shore.
The Iranian official said the vessel left a southern Iran port about 13 days ago and is carrying about 2,000 tons of humanitarian supplies earmarked for Gaza residents, including medicine and food. He added that another delivery of equipment and money collected in Iran in recent weeks was sent to Cairo in a plane; however, this aid shipment too has not yet reached Gaza and awaits Egypt's authorization, he said.
Since the outbreak of the Gaza campaign, Iran has made an effort to present itself as the defender of the Palestinian people, using the issue of humanitarian aid to smear Israel in the international media.
Hanan Greenberg contributed to the report
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3655585,00.html
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New patrol vessel for coast guard
14 Jan 2009, 0028 hrs IST, TNN
PANAJI: A new advanced offshore patrol vessel built by Goa Shipyard Limited will be
commissioned for the Indian coast guard in Goa, Comdt M S
Dangi, Deputy Inspector
General, Goa region, said on Tuesday.
The commissioning ceremony for the ship, which is 105 m long and is equipped with the latest equipment, will be held on January 21 at the hands of defence minister A K Anthony.
The defence minister is likely to be the chief guest for the commissioning ceremony which will be held at Mormugao port berth No 10, said Dangi. The ceremony will be part of the annual coast guard raising day, which is on February 1.
The aim of the raising day is to highlight the responsibilities of the Indian coast guard. Speaking of the major rescue operations carried out during the last two years off the coast of Goa, Dangi said that four merchant mariners were evacuated by coast guard helicopters from four different merchant vessels off the coast of Goa. Some of these crew were injured in the ship and some were suffering from other severe ailments, he said.
"In another operation, nine fishermen who were stranded at Grandi Island during cyclonic weather were air lifted by the coast guard helicopter. Another 19 fishermen from two different fishing boats were rescued when their boats started taking in water at high seas," Dangi added.
He said that as a precautionary measure, the sea surveillance off the coast of Goa was intensified after November 26, 2008. The coast guard ship based at Goa started patrolling daily for 8 to 10 hours and two helicopter sorties were conducted on a daily basis, said Dangi. He said that additional coast guard forces were brought in from New Mangalore and Daman during Christmas and New Year.
Two additional ships and one Dornier aircraft kept patrolling continuously from December 22 and continued till January 3, 2009. He said that helicopters and ships based at Goa were further supplementing the efforts and were keeping a close watch on areas closer to the coastline.
A total flying of 102 hours was conducted by the helicopters and the Dornier aircraft during December end along the coast of Goa. One of the ships, which was patrolling the South Goa coastline, was at sea for 264 hours. The second ship patrolled for 168 hours and a third ship spent 120 hours at sea.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Goa/New_patrol_vessel_for_coast_guard/articleshow/3974811.cms
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Ship's captain dies at sea
Published Wednesday January 14th, 2009
DALHOUSIE - The MV Ice Blizzard arrived in the Port of Dalhousie last Thursday, making it the first ship of the year. Normally, this means a reception at the town hall, but because of unusual circumstances, this was not done. A few days before, the captain, a 45-year-old Russian, had died while at sea.
Instead of the usual celebration, representatives of the Port of Dalhousie went aboard the ship and presented the plaque to the acting captain.
RCMP had been notified of the death on January 5, four days before the ship arrived. When it docked, it was met by members of the Dalhousie RCMP, the District 9 RCMP General Investigative Section, the RCMP Major Crime Unit, RCMP Investigation, Canadian Border Services Agency and the coroner's office.
Following their investigation, the RCMP issued a statement saying that "no foul play is suspected at this time." In conversation with a reporter, an RCMP member said that such instances are always treated as potential crimes until they have determined otherwise.
The vessel, registered in Cyprus, was making a scheduled stop in Dalhousie carrying fuel for the NB Power thermal generating station there.
http://tribunenb.canadaeast.com/news/article/538972
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Should we join efforts in the Gulf of Aden?
By Wang Jyh-perng
Wednesday, Jan 14, 2009, Page 8
Media reports indicate that at the end of last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) was informed by its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, that if Taiwanese merchant vessels need Chinese warships as escorts for protection, they may apply through the SEF.
The Mainland Affairs Council has yet to authorize the SEF to handle such requests, but has indicated that it is assessing the possibility of sending Taiwanese navy vessels to the Gulf of Aden to protect the nation’s ships from pirates.
China’s offer to protect Taiwanese ships is an expression of its concern for and willingness to protect the lives and property of Taiwanese people under the “one China” principle and is in line with a softer approach to Taiwan. On the other hand, some people no doubt worry that China intends to use the offer to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty.
But such concerns are not a good reason to send our warships. If we want to avoid directly accepting China’s offer, we can instead say we accept help from any and all countries participating in the patrol mission, as we would in any emergency in international waters.
Neither the Ministry of National Defense nor the navy is empowered to make a decision on sending vessels to escort cargo ships. The navy is capable of carrying out such a mission; it has many years’ experience of sending ships on long voyages to promote relations with other countries. But sending ships to escort merchant vessels and attack pirates is a different matter and differs from conventional naval warfare.
It would require special training for the officers and seamen of the vessels and it would require the ships to carry special forces personnel, helicopters and so on.
It is also unclear whether we would get help from nearby countries or other navies in a situation that our ships could not handle alone — such as if pirates hit one of our helicopters with a shoulder-launched missile. Such a scenario is possible and the navy cannot afford to ignore the risks.
East and South Asian countries that have sent naval forces to combat Somali pirates include China, Pakistan, Malaysia, India and Japan. There is a real need to protect shipping lanes from the Middle East to East Asia via the Malacca Strait.
Additionally, the anti-piracy mission provides a justification for some countries to show their ambition to extend their naval power.
Participating in the international drive to combat piracy by dispatching warships would, of course, benefit Taiwan in some respects.
It would provide training opportunities and demonstrate Taiwan’s willingness to cooperate with international organizations on military matters.
However, the possible reactions of the US, Japan and China must be considered.
The US Fifth Fleet has appointed Rear Admiral Terence McKnight to take command of the newly established multinational force patrolling the Gulf of Aden — Combined Task Force 151.
The next step may be to expand the anti-pirate force to include more than 20 countries, so as to effectively enforce security in sea lanes extending southward and eastward from the Suez Canal.
It is uncertain whether other participants in the mission would agree to let Taiwan participate. China might welcome Taiwanese ships to take part in joint escort, logistical and beach rescue efforts under the title of “Taiwan, China.”
In such a case, our government would need to proceed with caution.
Wang Jyh-perng is a reserve navy captain.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/01/14/2003433726
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Marad: US maritime policy doesn't support int'l. trade
Updated January 13, 2009 5:09:29 PM
The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE
United States maritime policy fails to adequately support U.S. participation in international trades and reforms are needed to address the situation, the Maritime Administration says in a new study.
The report, “An Evaluation of Maritime Policy in Meeting the Commercial and Security Needs of the United States,” evaluates the adequacy of current U.S. maritime policy to meet the commercial, economic, security and environmental needs of the nation over the next three decades.
The 72-page study was prepared by consultant IHS Global Insight.
Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton in releasing the study termed marine "the most important mode of transportation for future growth of the U.S. economy," but observed that current U.S. policy fails to recognize this fact.
Connaughton said policymakers must address potential freight bottlenecks that delay commerce and undermine economic growth by ensuring adequate capacity for the maritime system to transport increasing volumes of cargo and people.
The report found that current policies are only supportive of domestic maritime trades, particularly with a U.S.-flag ocean-going fleet in decline relative to those of other nations.
"Building ships in the U.S. and operating U.S.-flag ships is more
costly than building or operating ships in other nations," the study states. "However…possible reforms can lend more support to the U.S. maritime industry."
The study claims maritime policy "is constrained by legislative authority and remains narrowly focused on vessels." It states that support of short-sea shipping and multi-modal coordination in port development" can alleviate congestion and environmental degradation," and serve as a crucial link as trade volumes increase.
"Transportation policy must recognize that the operating fleets are inextricably connected to a widespread network of ports and inland transportation links including railroads and highways," the study states.
http://www.joc.com/articles/news.asp?section=ocean&sid=47549
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Missile Strike Targeted 2 Kenyan Al-Qaida Terrorists Linked to 1998 East Africa Embassy Blasts
By Howard Lesser
Washington, DC
14 January 2009
No one has claimed responsibility for the New Year's Day deaths of two Kenyans suspected of helping to engineer the 1998 bombings of the United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. But reports have surfaced of US drone-delivered Predator missile attacks in Pakistan's remote South Waziristan region that killed Kenyan-born Usama al-Kini and his lieutenant, Sheikh Ahmad Salim Swedan, on January 1. Al-Kini is one of several operatives reputed to be head of al-Qaida's activities in Pakistan, and he was named in media reports as mastermind of the failed first assassination attempt against former prime minister, the late Benazir Bhutto upon her return to Pakistan in October, 2007. The director of Aberfoyle International Security, Andrew McGregor, says that reaction to news of the Kenyan deaths has been positive.
"Reaction I've heard from Kenya, of course, is mostly from authorities, and, of course, they're quite pleased to be rid of both these individuals. I don't think there ever was any popular support for them or their activities within Kenya, and we certainly haven't seen anything in the way of demonstrations or support from the people of Kenya. In Pakistan, I think it's quite different. I think it's being absorbed into a larger degree of anger being expressed about the missile attacks in general, even though there is a lot of anger in Pakistan about the attacks, and there's some recognition that they're being directed against foreigners," he said.
McGregor comments that the reluctance by Islamabad or Washington to take credit for the New Year's Day strikes is a convenient way for all not to invite reprisals.
"They (the Pakistanis) can never sanction it openly. All you'll ever hear from them is that they're against this kind of activity. And, of course, the US doesn't publicly acknowledge responsibility for the attacks. So it's all a bit convenient for everyone involved," he noted.
With American leadership expecting to change next week, the Obama administration will want to address early on how it expects to handle tensions in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. Talks last weekend in Pakistan by Vice President-Elect Joe Biden and Pakistan's new president Asif Ali Zardari are believed to have focused on US anti-terrorism policy, which Andrew McGregor says Washington would like to continue.
"It's proven to be on a tactical level very effective in eliminating al-Qaida leaders who are wanted individuals. On a strategic level, it poses a lot more problems. Tactically, it's very successful. This is probably the best thing they've come up with yet. We started out in 2001 with carpet-bombing from B-52 bombers trying to target one person in particular and maybe a handful of others. That was just a ridiculous way to start this war and, I think, put the United States behind from the very beginning. What we have now is use of the most modern technology that allows the United States to select its targets and confirm its targets before it takes any kind of action. And the only drawback from this again is the collateral damage," he said.
McGregor notes that Pakistan's press is reporting that Biden, the outgoing chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, brought a proposed aid package of $15 billion to his talks with Pakistan military and government leaders last week to demonstrate the American commitment to pursuing the war against insurgents in Pakistan's northwest frontier. Since 1998, investigators have succeeded in tracking down and prosecuting members of the teams that carried out the Kenya and Tanzania embassy blasts. Andrew McGregor says the decision to hit the two Kenyans ten years later follows a series of other successful missile strikes against alleged al-Qaida operatives finding sanctuary in remote Pakistan.
"It's just recently, in the last six months when the Predator missile attacks have intensified, that we've seen a number of leaders kind of go down, one right after another. And I think finally, these two individuals came to the top of the list," he said.
McGregor plays down the possibility that the missile strikes were staged in reprisal to the November 26 attacks in Mumbai, India. But he suggests that another incident, last September's truck bombing of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel, which killed 50 people, may have prompted the attack.
"I would say it probably had very little to do with the Mumbai attacks and quite a bit to do as a kind of reprisal against the people who carried out the Marriott hotel bombing. And, both these people were involved in attacks targeting American personnel in the past, which made them really a priority target for the United States," he said.
http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-01-14-voa10.cfm
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Nigeria - Port congestion: A hard nut to crack, by Transport, Finance ministries
By David Ogah
WHEN the invitation for the just concluded stakeholders forum on port congestion was circulated in Lagos recently, many who received it believed the game of fooling Nigerians was about to be repeated.
The stakeholders forum was at the instance of the Minister of Transportation, Alhaji Ibrahim Bio and Dr. Muktar Mansur, minister of finance who thought it could be a forum to find solution to the perennial crises, which assumed an embarrassing proportion toward the end of 2008. It was reported that over 54 vessels were trapped on the high sea because of their inability to berth at Lagos ports, which were congested.
A stakeholder who received the ministers' invitation for the parley with negative feelings said that the truth relating to the solution to the problem was at the two ministries.
"Have these two ministers not been briefed? We have had several forum on the same subject matter and at the end, communiqu�s which suggested the cause and the solution at port congestion were issued. The forum was held not once, not twice. Have they not been briefed? Have they read the files or they just want to pretend before President Yar'Adua that they are hard working? We have had many ministers who behaved the way they are behaving now, yet they did not achieve anything. They only come for a parade that formed part of the news items on television network news, because they like to be seen on the television screen pretending to be working hard," said one of them who was with this reporter at the time the invitation was delivered.
Continuing, he said that a serious minded minister in charge of ports would first conduct an independent investigation to see the picture clearly for an action.
"A forum is just a deceitful way of doing this thing. Do you want a clearing agent registered by the Customs, for example, to openly criticise the Customs? They will withdraw his license. You cannot get the truth from such forum and that is why their predecessors failed to tackle the problem."
Bio who first spoke at the Lagos forum, said that he was confronted with the problems of port congestion 48 hours after he assumed office. He was appointed transport minister shortly before the last Christmas day celebration.
"I received several reports on port congestion 48 hours after I was appointed and this is the main challenge I faced as soon as I resumed. The clearing of the port is our responsibility. The president said that we should take far-reaching decision in less than 60 days to ensure that the ports are decongested. We should have the shortest, medium and long-term measures solutions to decongest the ports."
His counterpart in the Finance Ministry, Dr. Mansur described ports congestion in Nigeria as a national "embarrassment," because smaller countries like Togo, Ghana have not experienced congestion despite the daily diversion of Nigerian bound cargoes to the ports of those countries.
"The essence of the exercise is for us to have a dialogue and find a concrete action plan and how and when to realise it. This is not time for buck passing. We have countries where the systems are working. Togo with limited resources is doing well. Ships that should come to Nigeria are going there. This is an embarrassment to all of us," he said.
Many ministers had come and gone with the same expression of feelings. They were even more sentimental. They sounded more patriotic on the matter, but they failed to find the required solutions. They merely danced around for a while before they joined the bandwagon.
Former Minister of Finance, Mr. Shamsudeen Usman, his counterpart then in the Ministry of Transportation Mrs. Diseani Alison Madueke also had similar forum of stakeholders on port congestion and 48 hours goods clearance. It was also at the same venue, Sheraton Hotel, Lagos.
"In our first two months, we have faced several questions at various fora on the success level of port reform activities. I have often found it difficult to provide cogent answers to those questions," the then Minister of State for Finance Mr. Remi Babalola said to justify one of the similar forum held at the same venue in 2007.
Before then, the Federal Government had introduced 48 hours goods clearance policy as a way of reducing congestion at the ports. The failure of the policy was what made the crises to be worse at the ports last year.
Although stakeholders passed the buck at the forum, the ministers had the privilege of knowing how best the policy could be achieved.
They were shocked that 65 per cent of the imported items were still undergoing physical examination by the Nigerian Customs. With physical examination the whole container has to be unstuffed for goods to be examined manually and one can imagine how many containers the Customs could examine in a day. They even said clearly that Customs deliberately introduced the physical examination for personal reasons
At a point in 2005, the Nigerian Ports Authority was forced to voice out its observations in respect of port congestion that year when it said that the Nigerian Customs Service should be blamed for it.
"Blame the Nigeria Customs Service for the delays. They have been trying to check the infiltration of banned goods. They sent in a team from Abuja to Apapa and we had an inflow not being in concert with outflow (delivery) which is now causing congestion," the then Executive Director in charge of Western Port, Mr. Felix Ovbude said in 2005 when he received members of the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Transport in Lagos that year.
He added that the insistence of the Customs to subject all consignment to physical examination scared importers away from the ports.
The arrival of the 82 of the Customs officials from the Customs high command to scrutinise import papers and report back to the Customs Comptroller-General, who may soon retire as he has completed the required years in service, ushered in the first signs of port congestion.
These officials, as usual, joined the "bandwagon" at the port. They soon took the laws into their hands to scare away importers; to ignite cargo build-up, the result of which we are suffering at Lagos ports today.
Industry watchers have also blamed the Nigeria Customs for the persistent congestion. They said that the service was expected to make it mandatory for stakeholders to hook up to its ASYCUDA (Automated System of Customs Data) but sadly enough, the reverse has been the case. The stakeholders have been approaching the service with enthusiasm for the password with which to hook up to the system. But the Customs command, particularly the Apapa Customs Command continues to move from one excuse to another as to why it won't be possible yet for them to hook up until later which it refused to indicate. So ASYCUDA project is a failure and man-to-man contact at the port continued to promote corruption which is now deeply rooted at the ports.
In the recent times, the importers have been abandoning their items at the ports because of fear of possible arrest.
The Nigeria Customs Service had insisted on the application of Customs and Exercise Management Act (CEMA), which today is in clear contradiction with import guidelines under destination inspection.
The import guideline allows for the assessment of goods and the issuance of demand notice when any discrepancy is discovered. But on the contrary, CEMA contains a regulations for the seizure when discrepancies are noticed in respect of goods declaration.
There is also multiplicity of Customs units that are performing similar functions at the ports. We have the valuation unit , CIU, enforcement and many others that are doing the same job.
Goods clearing process entails that all imports goes through these various units performing the same function, hence the delay which is said to be in contravention of Kyoto and FAL Conventions.
Recently, the Federal Government announced that its agencies at the ports had been pruned down. Before then, there have been complaints of multiplicity of the agencies and this had long been attributed to congestion at the ports.
Only the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Ports Authority, Nigeria Immigration Service, inspection agents, Licensed Customs Agents are required in the process of goods clearance. But today, even the officials of the Nigerian Police are involved.
Because of the multiplicity of agencies, transaction cost and cargo dwell time has gone up and it has not been possible to adopt the required one-stop-shop-window approach to inspection of goods at the ports because of the inability to use single standardise documentation format and content.
Worse still, it has not been possible to streamline paper flows and minimise the number of approved signatures or stamps in the process of goods clearance.
The President of National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, Mr. Lucky Amiwero who spoke with The Guardian on the matter recently said that the CEMA guidelines on import was no longer relevant.
"Many containers are now being auctioned on the application of Customs and Excise Management Act that has no relevance in the present import guideline that provides for discrepancy," he said as he gave reasons for congestion that has been persistent at the Lagos ports.
The freight forwarder always attributed the congestion to inadequate cargo clearance infrastructure as he said that most of the terminal operators are yet to procure enough cargo handling equipment to fast-track cargo clearing process at the port.
"We observe that most of the plant and equipment used by the terminal operators are either epileptic, obsolete or non functional. This bring about the slow pace of inspection and delivery that often result into huge demurrage and rent that is always transferred to the agent or importer."
The allocation of containers to off-dock terminals has also been attributed to the current port congestion.
"The allocation of containers to off-dock terminals is associated with undue delays ranging from weeks to months and sometimes containers on the same vessels will be allocated to three different off-dock terminals. This singular documentary process in the three terminal that will take months to conclude even at the expense of the importers and their agents," he said.
One important reason for port congestion has been the monopoly hitherto enjoyed by terminal operators in area of operations.
This monopoly has made congestion to be terminal specific. That is why some terminals have been largely empty while others are experiencing congestion.
The terminal operators themselves have come out with a revisit to berthing arrangement so that vessels are allowed to berth anywhere there is berthing space.
The Association of Terminal Operators said towards the end of the year that congestion at the ports was artificially induced adding that it could not be unconnected with the usually end of the year rush upsurge in shipment as many importers were always itching to beat the new year importation policy for fear of likely changes. They also observed that congestion was terminal specific, because it was not general in nature. Some terminals have hitherto remained idle while others have been experiencing congestion.
According to the association, the last berthing meeting in 2008 indicated that only fish, containers, tankers and general cargo vessels are involved in the congestion saga.
"The irony in the midst of all these is that while some terminal are witnessing a deluge of vessels waiting outside to berth, some actually have vacant berths at one time or the other.
They said that the solution to the present congestion could be found in the revisit to some policies which gave some terminal a level of monopoly over certain vessel at the detriment of others. They, therefore, called for the introduction of redistributive strategy for vessels at the ports
The Managing Director of APM Terminals, Michael Hansen gave a vivid picture of the impact of the port congestion when he said that about 9,000 containers were waiting to be cleared at his terminal just as another 9,000 others were waiting to be transferred to off-dock terminals.
Other terminal operators have also called for the removal of empty containers block-stacked at the ports where they are occupying valuable spaces.
The meetings of the two ministers will, therefore, make a meaning if the decision taken in the past to transfer overtime cargoes to Ikorodu Lighter Terminal through the lagoon, which requires dredging, is adhered to.
The last civilian dispensation took the decision to transfer the containers to the idle terminal as a solution to the then congestion. A follow up to the decision was the handing over of the terminal to the Nigeria Customs Service which should be mandated to make a full use of it . This could serve as a short and even long-term solution to the problem at the ports.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/maritime/article01/indexn2_html?pdate=140109&ptitle=Port%20congestion:%20A%20hard%20nut%20to%20crack,%20by%20Transport,%20%20Finance%20ministries
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Samoan group calls for end to German ocean experiment
Posted at 04:22 on 14 January, 2009 UTC
A Samoan environmental organisation, O le Siosiomaga, says the Pacific Ocean should not become a dumping ground for climate change fighting experiments.
The German research vessel, Polarstern, is on its way to the Scotia Sea to begin a large scale ocean fertilisation experiment, called Lohafex.
It’ll add iron to the ocean to cause large algal blooms, which could absorb carbon dioxide as they grow.
It’s seen as a possible solution to global warming and could be used for carbon trading schemes.
But the organisation’s executive director, Fiu Elisara, condemns this controversial German/Indian experiment because its impact on the marine ecosystem is unclear.
“It’s a new issue here, especially in the Pacific. There’re a lot of things we still need to understand, especially when we have the Pacific Ocean as being targeted as a dumping ground for these nanoparticles. We need to be very, very sure that it’ll create benefits rather than negative impacts to our resources.”
Fiu Elisara says Pacific nations must reject flawed solutions to climate change.
German media quote the country’s environment minister, Sigmar Gabriel, as saying it defies a United Nations agreement signed last year, prompting him to call for a halt.
But the German research institute, the Helmholtz Association, says its assessment shows the experiment will cause no environmental damage.
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=44159
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Russian sailors rescued from trawler in Barents Sea
STOCKHOLM/MURMANSK. January 14. KAZINFORM Nineteen sailors were rescued from a Russian trawler that got into difficulties in the Barents Sea on Tuesday, Norwegian NRK radio reported.
Port authorities in Murmansk, where the Topaz-A is registered, said one of the trawler's crew had died in the incident. A spokesperson for the Norwegian sea rescue service said it was the vessel's captain, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.
The spokesperson said the alert had been received at 3:13 p.m. local time (14:13 GMT) and the sailors were taken aboard a Norwegian ship within an hour. Two injured crewmembers had been airlifted by helicopter to Spitsbergen for medical treatment.
The vessel's owners, Murmansk Trawler Fleet 3, refused to comment on the incident.
http://www.inform.kz/showarticle3.php?lang=eng&id=174845
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34 passengers of Indonesia`s sank vessel found alive
Posted: 2009/01/14
From: MNN
PAREPARE, Indonesia, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Thirty four survivors and two dead bodies of a ferry that went down in Majene waters of Indonesia's West Sulawisi province had been found till 10:00 pm local time on Monday, according to an official announcement here on Tuesday.
The ill-fated KM Teratai Prima was hit by three-meter high waves triggered by a strong typhoon, and went down in 500-m deep Majene waters, West Sulawesi, early Sunday.
Information obtained from the Majene Port Administration said, 267 passengers were on board, not the 250 as earlier reported.
"The location of the accident is about three miles from the Majene coast, "Chief of the Navy Main Base VI, Commodore Ignatius Dadiek Surarto, said in a report to Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Jamal at Sultan Hasanuddin airport here on Monday.
One dead body had been found in the Majene waters and taken by the warship KRI Untung Surapati to Majene port. Another body was brought back to Parepare harbor.
The chief of the rescue team, Thomas Luther, said at Cappa Ujung port in Parepare on Monday that until 10 pm local time 36 passengers were alive, seven of them rescued by Cargo CGL-V vessel that happened to pass the location of the accident. The seven were taken to the Makassar port, he said.
Families and relatives of the passengers continued arriving at the command post in Parepare seeking information about the fate of their loved ones. #
http://mathaba.net/news/?x=615518
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Boat owners urged to update emergency beacons
Posted Sun Jan 11, 2009 12:22pm AEDT
Tasmanian marine authorities are urging boat owners to join waiting lists to buy digital emergency beacons.
In February, analog EPIRBs will be made redundant when United States authorities switch off the satellite that receives their signal.
Peter Hopkins from Marine and Safety Tasmania says suppliers in the state are currently sold out.
"If they haven't already got one, get themselves on the waiting list ASAP because really the old 121 megahertz are banned machines," Mr Hopkins said.
"So if people haven't already changed over we're really keen to make sure people get their name on the waiting list otherwise they'll miss out altogether."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/01/11/2463185.htm
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ThyssenKrupp Unit Buys Remaining 25% Stake In Shipyard Group
January 13, 2009: 10:47 AM ET
FRANKFURT -(Dow Jones)- ThyssenKrupp Technologies AG, a unit of German steelmaker and engineering company ThyssenKrupp AG (TKA.XE), said Tuesday that it has acquired the 25% stake in ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems AG held by One Equity Partners, or OEP, becoming the sole owner of the European shipyards group.
With this acquisition, ThyssenKrupp Technologies is systematically continuing its shipyards strategy and strengthening its market position. ThyssenKrupp Technologies acquired Atlas Elektronik jointly with EADS in August 2006 and the EADS marine electronics business was integrated into Atlas Elektronik.
ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems AG was formed in January 2005 through the merger of ThyssenKrupp Werften and the HDW group. ThyssenKrupp Technologies initially held 75% and OEP 25% of the shares in the shipyard alliance with locations in Germany, Sweden and Greece.
ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems is one of the leading system suppliers in the international shipbuilding sector. Its activities focus on the development and building of submarines and surface naval vessels, civil shipbuilding, ship repair and conversion, and a range of services.
The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djhighlights/200901131047DOWJONESDJONLINE000421.htm
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Hanwha asked to resubmit plans for Daewoo Ship buy
Tue Jan 13, 2009 6:52am GMT
SEOUL, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Korea Development Bank, in talks to sell Daewoo Shipbuilding (042660.KS) to Hanwha Group, asked Hanwha on Tuesday to rework its financing plan amid speculation the estimated $5 billion sale could fall apart.
State-run KDB, a top shareholder in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, also said it would decide whether the deal could go through based on the new funding plans from Hanwha.
"The fund-raising plans Hanwha presented...are insufficient in general and KDB has asked Hanwha to re-submit detailed and realistic plans by this week," the bank said in a statement.
"KDB will thoroughly review the new plans and make a final decision on whether the deal can go ahead."
Hanwha, a South Korean conglomerate led by explosives maker Hanwha Corp (000880.KS), was picked as the preferred buyer of Daewoo Shipbuilding in October, agreeing to purchase a 50.4 percent stake in the world's No. 3 shipbuilder.
But its plans to sell assets and raise money from banks and other financial investors hit snags due to deteriorating financial markets and the weak economy. Hanwha has asked KDB to delay the payment deadline or receive the amount in tranches.
Instead of accepting the demands, KDB proposed setting up a private equity fund with institutional investors to buy assets offered by Hanwha.
Hanwha Group spokesman Ju Cheol-beom said the group would seek to resolve disagreements.
"Negotiations are still under way and changes in terms and offers can be made in the process," Ju said.
The global recession has hit South Korean conglomerates that have made highly leveraged local and cross-border deals, with many facing slumping values of acquired assets and earnings, as well as difficulties in selling non-core assets.
Shares in Hanwha Corp climbed 5.43 percent on Tuesday on expectations for the collapse of the deal as investors had worried about the costs of absorbing Daewoo.
Daewoo Shipbuilding shares jumped 8.81 percent, well outpacing the Seoul market's 0.95 percent gain. (Reporting by Rhee So-eui; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUKSEO16475220090113
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'Curveballs' are key to training for complexities of Africa duty
From natural disasters to political flash points, the Joint Warfighting Center is taking the military to school.
By HUGH LESSIG | 247-7821
January 14, 2009
SUFFOLK - A cyclone plows into Tanzania and the U.S. ambassador wants help. Extremists threaten a well-drilling operation in Kenya. A border dispute turns ugly and world attention focuses on tiny Eritrea, where the American Embassy is in trouble.
These crises are on a computer screen — for now.
But inside the Joint Warfighting Center, the U.S. Joint Forces Command is running these scenarios to train military personnel as real world problem-solvers in the Horn of Africa, one of the more complex areas of the world.
The training exercise began last week and ends Friday. It has been throwing curveballs to 55 people who will head to Africa next month as the new headquarters staff for the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa. Based in Djibouti, the job is not exactly a cakewalk.
It wants to build cooperation in an area where political boundaries often mean less than the location of various clans. It wants to maintain stability in regions where border disputes are all too real. And it aims to protect U.S. interests and people in the face of sudden trouble.
On Tuesday, leaders escorted reporters through the war-fighting center, where banks of computers and flat-screen monitors speak to the complexities of the exercise. Army Col. Michael S. Rose said the scenarios are based on real-world events, from massive humanitarian operations like a cyclone to a sensitive political crisis involving a small team like water well-drillers.
"I think we do a pretty good job of replicating what they're going to see," said Rose, the chief of operations.
The headquarters staff works with military forces under the U.S. Africa Command to assess and develop responses to the wide range problems. The staff draws from various disciplines, including Navy Capt. Mark Davis of Virginia Beach, a former submarine commander.
Davis agreed that the computer exercise has a realistic flavor. Besides being tactically complex, it requires the staff to consider the cultural and political nuances of a situation, and how civilian media reports could alter the landscape.
Here's one scenario.
A border clash erupts between the countries of Djibouti and Eritrea. Keep in mind that the headquarters staff is based in the former country, but there is a U.S. Embassy in the latter. The job is to develop a plan to evacuate the embassy in Eritrea, which is threatened. Obviously, the embassy has Americans, but Eritreans also work there. That involves bringing the Eritreans into Djibouti, even though the two countries are fighting.
Now comes a news report that shots have been fired along the border.
"You react to that — oh my goodness, that changes everything," Davis said. "What it really is, a couple Eritreans were trying to defect to the other side, and their own guys were shooting at them."
It's a tough exercise, but it does wonders for the expectations of a former sub commander who will soon find himself in strange surroundings.
"I'm very confident," he said, "that from day one on the ground, these guys can do what is needed to do."
http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_hornofafrica_0114jan14,0,2222622.story
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Guinea-Bissau reports second canoe accident
www.chinaview.cn 2009-01-14 15:06:57
DAKAR, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Guinea-Bissau has reported a second canoe accident in two days with the latest involving 10 passengers on board and the previous over 70, instead of the initially reported 46.
Radio broadcast from the tiny West African country said most of the 10 passengers aboard the canoe were women and children, who went missing after the wooden boat capsized amid bad weather late Monday in a river 150 km east of the capital Bissau.
On Sunday, another canoe was toppled by strong wind in a river in Biombo, 50 km northwest of the capital city. More than 70 passengers were on board, the latest report said, instead of initially disclosed 46. Four were reportedly saved.
Authorities said two bodies have been recovered in the search and rescue mission, which is made difficult by the windy weather.
Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior and several government ministers went to Biombo on Monday to acquire the first-hand information and show solidarity with the families of the victims.
The deadly canoe accidents have become the first major issue to be tackled by the newly formed government, whose members were made known only last week.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/14/content_10656798.htm
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Navy gets 1-year OK to train with sonar off Hawaii
By AUDREY McAVOY – 5 hours ago
HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Navy was granted a one-year permit to train with sonar and bombs in Hawaii waters so long as it tries to protect whales and other marine animals from harm.
The Navy warned that whales and other marine life may be harmed, or even killed, though that wasn't expected. Some marine species — particularly beaked whales — appear much more vulnerable to harm from sonar, and scientists are not sure why.
The National Marine Fisheries Service still is considering Navy requests to train with mid-frequency active sonar in waters off Southern California, the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act requires the Navy to ask for the fisheries service's permission to carry out activities that may affect marine mammals.
The authorization that took effect Jan. 5 also allows the Navy to set off bombs and fire guns during Hawaii drills.
The fisheries service said Monday it will reissue a permit each of the next five years so long as the Navy follows a list of measures to protect the animals. It is requiring sailors to shut off sonar when marine mammals are nearby, use extra caution near Maui where humpback whales breed and calve, and avoid detonating explosives within certain areas.
The fisheries service said it carefully balanced the need to protect marine mammals with the Navy's need to maintain military readiness. The Navy must reapply to train with sonar after 2014.
Paul Achitoff, an Earthjustice attorney in Honolulu who has sued the Navy over sonar in the past, said Tuesday that the fisheries service should have required the Navy to do more.
"What the National Marine Fisheries Service is doing is basically the same as the status quo, which is to allow the Navy to conduct sonar exercises with a minimum of precautions," Achitoff said. "The fisheries service has acceded to the demands of the Navy with little critical oversight."
Achitoff said Earthjustice was examining the fisheries service's decision to determine whether it should be challenged in court.
For the past two years, the Pentagon has used another federal law — the National Defense Authorization Act — to exempt the Navy from the permit requirements.
The Defense Department said then that the Navy needed time to study how sonar affects the environment before it sought regulators' permission to use the technology.
The Navy has spent the past few years conducting environmental studies for underwater training ranges around the country.
Sailors use sonar to track enemy submarines. Sonar operators send pulses of sound through the ocean and then listen for objects, such as submarines, that the sound strikes.
Scientists say the sound may disrupt the feeding patterns of marine mammals. The sound may also startle some species of whales, causing them to surface rapidly.
The Navy has been using mid-frequency active sonar for some 40 years, but its military importance has been growing even as concerns about the environmental effects of sonar have increased.
The Navy is particularly worried about being able to track a growing fleet of quiet diesel-electric submarines — owned by China, Iran and North Korea among other countries — that are difficult to spot and follow underwater.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ipRq5_JJWR8ykYY9m3_1WEE3nXOwD95MLVK00
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SOMALIA: Inside a pirate network
HARGEISA, 13 January 2009 (IRIN) - Hassan* and Mohamed* were fishermen in Bossaso, in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, but turned to piracy out of desperation and lack of alternative livelihoods.
However, in August 2008, coastguards from the self-declared republic of Somaliland arrested them after they strayed into the region's waters. In September, they were each sentenced to 15 years in prison for their role in the piracy that has intensified off Somalia's waters in recent years.
Hassan and several others jailed on piracy charges spoke to IRIN between August and December from two prisons in Somaliland.
Hassan said: "I participated in two missions which we planned in Bossaso; the first in February [2008]. As part of a group of eight, we went to Ras Azayr area in Puntland in search of some foreign vessels. We did not find anything. We thought that since there were no foreign vessels operating in Puntland waters, we could go to Somaliland.
"I met up with a group of five men in Berbera and we agreed to operate in Somaliland waters. Unfortunately, Somaliland coastal guards captured us before we could do anything. I was later charged with organising piracy activities in Somaliland.
"I agreed to engage in piracy because we wanted to get back at the illegal foreign vessels that were fishing in our waters, denying us a livelihood. We targeted foreign cargo vessels for that reason."
Explaining how a pirate network works, Mohamed, who was sentenced in December, said: "I was captured in [Somaliland's] His District alongside four other men captured by coastguards on 13 December. I was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
"I, as do most pirates, consider myself as having been performing the duties of a coastguard. We usually work in groups of seven to 10 people. Often, our missions are financed by individuals and businessmen who collect half of the ransoms paid.
"Many people who opt to become pirates do so because authorities such as those in Puntland contribute to the degrading of the sea's environment by licensing foreign ships which use illegal fishing methods.”
Omar*, another of the jailed pirates, added: "Piracy has become booming business in Puntland territories; we receive the fuel and logistics from local business people. For example, when a kidnapped vessel pays ransom, 50 percent of it is taken by the people who invested their money; the pirates only get 50 percent."
The ransom they pay is somehow a punishment for their illegal activity in the Somali water, especially in the era without government
In turn, the business people also give a certain percentage of the ransom to the influential people in the host area of operations, Omar said.
However, he was quick to point out that pirates did not attack any ship coming to Bossaso.
"No one will attack any ship toward Bossaso because the local people who support the pirates will not agree to the hosting of those kidnapped in their area, so the ships coming to Bossaso are safe from piracy."
The pirates consider the ransom they get to be retribution for the ships that fish illegally off Somali waters.
"The ransom they pay is somehow a punishment for their illegal activity in the Somali water, especially in the era without government," one of the pirates said.
*Not their real names
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82339
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First View - LONDON
The Svitzer tug LONDON (2,728-gt, built 1975), which is currently based in Cape Town, seen here on berth 704 on the harbour’s North Wall. Picture Ian Shiffman
http://ports.co.za/news/article_2009_01_13_3136.html
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Speculators leasing ships gamble on oil increase
Another five VLCCs are likely to be taken on charter during January to store crude oil, bringing the total number of supertankers brought into use as storage facilities for crude oil this month to more than 25, reports The Times, which describes the amount of oil now being stored at sea as more than enough to supply the UK for 35 days.
The article quotes Jens Martin Jensen, acting managing director and chief executive of Norwegian shipping group Frontline as calling it the strongest demand in many years. “We are having new inquiries every day. At least 25 vessels have already been booked and I would expect the number to reach at least 30 by the end of the month.”
Jensen says that a number of different groups including BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Eagle Vienna and US company Koch have leased tankers for this purpose.
“It’s a new situation, there has been a very strong demand for VLCCs over the past weeks,” said a broker at Barry Rogliano Salles, the French company. He called it a speculation on the price of oil. “They are just hoping that the prices will increase.”
The gamble follows the dramatic drop in the price of crude from over US$100 a barrel – it topped at a record $147.27 per barrel in July 2008 and is now trading for little more than US$40 a barrel.
The forward market for oil suggests that prices are likely to rise later in 2009. But with costs of chartering a new VLCC tanker currently at between $60,000 and $90,000 a day, depending on size, it’s still quite a gamble. – source The Times
http://ports.co.za/news/article_2009_01_13_3136.html
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US Gulf Coast – South Africa trade faces tough year, says GAL
Breakbulk and project type cargo between the US Gulf Coast and Southern and West Africa face a tough year in 2009, say Gulf Africa Line’s US representative David Groves.
Groves, who is quoted in an article in the Gulf Shipper, says that while there is a backlog of orders to fill ships in the short term, by the second quarter of 2009 things will have become a lot more difficult. He said that if commodity prices stay where they are or continue to drop, orders for project and heavy-lift cargoes and breakbulk cargo will drop accordingly.
Mining machinery makes up about 70% of GAL’s liner cargo although the company carries a wide range of breakbulk cargo.
Gulf Africa Line is a joint venture between Nordana Inc of the United States and Hamburg-based MACS Maritime Carrier Shipping. Nordana provides services between US Gulf ports and West Africa returning via East Coast South America, while GAL ships trade between the US Gulf ports and East Coast and southern Africa.
Groves said that among the challenges facing ahead are a spluttering global economy, port congestion, infrastructure issues and uncertainty in the oil, gas and commodities industries.
He said the breakbulk trade with South Africa was also directly impacted by currency values and if the US dollar rises during the year it will prove harder for South African importers to buy US-made machinery. “We just don’t know and will have to wait and see what the trend is.”
GAL, which is represented in the US by Nordana as its general agent, operates a fleet of six multipurpose vessels handling containers, breakbulk, heavylift and project cargo on a three-weekly cycle between the ports of Jacksonville, Houston, New Orleans, Altamira, Cape Town, Durban and Richards Bay. A feeder service provided by MACS serves Maputo, Mombasa and Madagascar.
Groves said that construction activity tied in with the 2010 Soccer World Cup tournament in South Africa could provide a boost for carriers.
You can read the full special report by David Biederman HERE
http://www.gulfshipper.com/news/article.asp?sid=2046<ype=special
http://ports.co.za/news/article_2009_01_13_3136.html
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Gaza crisis spills onto the web By Flora Graham
BBC News
A propaganda war is being waged on the internet between supporters of the Israeli and Palestinian sides in the current conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Activists have turned to defacing websites, taking over computers, and shutting down Facebook groups.
US Military sites, Nato, and an Israeli Bank have all been targeted.
Experts have warned users to be on the lookout for phishing emails and webmasters to ensure their servers are secure.
The hacking of security barriers for political or ideological reasons has been branded by some as hacktivism. And it is thought that as use of the internet grows, so too will the number of attacks.
Defaced
On 7 January, pro-Palestinian hackers defaced several high-profile websites, including a US Army website, and the Nato Parliamentary Assembly's website.
Calling themselves "Agd_Scorp/Peace Crew", they replaced pages with white space and a well-known photograph of a boy throwing stones at an Israeli tank in Gaza, and the Israeli, American and British flags with a red strike through them.
"Stop attacks u israel and usa ! you cursed nations ! one day muslims will clean the world from you!" wrote the hackers.
Dwight Griswold, the Nato Parliamentary Assembly's head of IT, says that the attackers persisted in attempting access for a number of days following the initial attack, adding that the intruders did not gain access to any of the Assembly's internal servers.
"The fact is that it's always a cat and mouse game. There is no system that is impenetrable."
Hackers also hijacked the domain names of Israeli online news site ynetnews.com and the Israel Discount Bank. They rerouted visitors to a page showing anti-Israel messages with images of prisoners being abused in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Other approaches appealed to a web user's potential loyalties; a website called www.help-israel-win.com asked visitors to download and install a file that was later determined to be a trojan that could allow for remote access to and control of a computer.
The number of attacks has skyrocketed in Israel in the past few months, said Yoav Keren, chief executive of domain name registry Domain The Net.
"It's clear that it is a result of what happening in Gaza," said Mr Keren. "We see it as part of the war."
Israeli Arab and pro-Palestinian sites have also been targeted. Last year, hackers defaced three websites, replacing pages with the Israeli flag and the symbol of the banned far-right group Kach.
Speaking to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the manager of news website Arabs48.com Az-a-Din Badran said his site was "constantly suffering from repeated hack attempts".
Facebook fight
The battle also looms large on social networking site Facebook, where dozens of groups related to the conflict in Gaza have sprung up.
The clash flared up when a group using the logo of the Jewish Internet Defence Force (JIDF) took control of several of these groups.
They removed content and replaced it with statements supporting Israeli policy and criticising the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, and replaced the groups' images with the JIDF logo.
Andrew Silvera, who is active on several pro-Palestinian groups on Facebook, was one of those targeted. He said that his account was hacked after he responded to a Facebook request from another user, inviting him to be an administrator of a similar group.
"As soon as I clicked it I realized there was something wrong with the link. It wasn't like a normal Facebook group.
"As soon as I pressed it, that was it, my account just vanished," he said. "They kidnapped my account."
Mr Silvera tried to contact Facebook about his account, but told BBC News that he had as yet received no reply.
Francesco Paris started a Facebook group criticising the JIDF's alleged behaviour online after he noticed that a group he wanted to join had been affected.
"I noticed that all of the discussion boards had been taken down, the description of the group had been changed to 'closed' and the tagline said something like 'Israel for life'," he told the BBC.
"The picture had a 'Jewish Internet Defence Force' [image], I had no idea what that was."
After noticing that the content of several other groups had been similarly altered, he started his group.
Mr Paris said that he received Facebook messages that attempted to gather his account login information.
He provided the BBC with a copy of one of these so-called "phishing" emails, which has a link leading to a fake Facebook login page that asks for users login detail.
A spokesperson for the JIDF, who declined to be named, told BBC News that it is an advocacy group that fights anti-Semitism online.
The group would not confirm whether the Facebook groups were shut down by people affiliated with the JIDF.
"We are not hackers. We are also not involved with phishing. We do not break the law for our work," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson pointed out that one of the groups included anti-Semitic cartoons and graphic images of injured and dead people and criticised Facebook for allowing "hateful, anti-Semitic, racist material and material which promotes Islamic terrorism and violence" to remain on the site.
"Despite thousands of our members reporting offensive material, Facebook does not seem to act."
A spokesperson for Facebook said that the firm would not respond to specific alleged incidents, but that they were aware of the phishing attacks.
"We have noticed a couple of instances where a page or a group admin has had their account credentials phished. In such cases, we will reset the passwords on the users' accounts and they should have control again.
"We are just a platform and the discussions that are taking place online are also taking place offline," the Facebook spokesperson added.
"We are not taking sides."
Worse to come
Professor Peter Sommer, a cybercrime expert at the London School of Economics, says that security professionals have come to expect such hacktivism attacks.
"It's been going on for at least 10 years. It's a very obvious form of making a protest," he said.
"It's far more attractive than turning up at an airport or outside an embassy and possibly getting arrested, certainly getting cold and possibly bruised in the process."
Social networking sites like Facebook are usually secure "at a fundamental level", he said, but users must take responsibility for their account's security.
"Unfortunately, security at a personal level is relatively hard work and rather tiresome, but there is no feasible alternative."
Peter Power, who sits on the UK Security Review Commission, said that cyberattacks are commonplace, noting a recent attack aimed at bringing down the whole of the UK's internet infrastructure that was stopped at a late stage.
While not as dramatic as such large-scale attacks, simply redirecting a website to a propaganda message also creates a climate of fear.
"When people penetrate websites - and you see it on your screen - it becomes very personal to you. The fear is…'look, if they can do this, what else can they do?'" he said.
Mr Power emphasised that "the UK government is keenly aware of this [threat]" and has set up the CPNI (Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure) to protect the country's essential services.
The Nato Parliamentary Assembly's Dwight Griswold admitted that although they are embarrassing, he is not overly concerned about the messages hackers put on his organisation's website.
"My more worrisome threat is if someone breaks in and doesn't leave a big message like that."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/7827293.stm
Published: 2009/01/14 08:35:13 GMT
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Raytheon awarded $23 million for Ship Self-Defense System
TEWKSBURY, Mass., Jan. 13, 2009 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) received a $23 million U.S. Navy contract to serve as the platform systems engineering agent for the Ship Self-Defense System (SSDS). This is the first step toward a base year with options years through fiscal year 2012 platform systems engineering agent contract.
As PSEA, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems will manage the integration of capability upgrades into various aircraft carrier and amphibious ship combat systems while providing continued support for fielded systems. Services will include platform systems engineering, configuration control, testing, training, and logistics.
This contract will expand SSDS open architecture installations to include CVN 78, America's next-generation aircraft carrier; the newest Tarawa-class ship (LHA 6); and the Whidbey Island class (LSD). Raytheon will also integrate the Zumwalt-class destroyer's Dual Band Radar onboard CVN 78.
"SSDS is an open architecture solution that leverages our expertise and advanced technologies to provide critical situational awareness and proven self-defense capabilities to the U.S. Navy," said Raytheon IDS' Robert Martin, vice president and deputy of Seapower Capability Systems. "With this contract, we will expand our role and support to ensure the reliability and effectiveness of the Navy's surface fleet."
Raytheon's Ship Self-Defense System is an open, distributed combat management system for carriers and expeditionary warfare ships. It is designed to expedite the detect-to-engage sequence to defend against anti-ship cruise missiles. SSDS links and automates standalone sensors and weapon systems to provide the required combat reaction.
Designed to meet the Navy's Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems Open Architecture Computing Environment standards, Raytheon's SSDS MK 2 is the first fleet use of this open architecture computing environment software that includes selected software components from the Total Ship Computing Environment Infrastructure developed for the Zumwalt-class destroyer. The open architecture design adds a new level of flexibility and commercial standards to support the Navy's goal for open, modular and interoperable combat management systems for the fleet.
SSDS is currently fielded on four classes of aircraft carriers and expeditionary ships: LSD, CVN 68, LPD 17 and LHD class.
Work will be performed at Raytheon IDS' Expeditionary Warfare Center, San Diego, Calif., and Seapower Capability Center, Portsmouth, R.I.
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-13-2009/0004953753&EDATE=
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Certificate needed for jet skis
14/01/2009 09:53 - (SA)
Carina van Wyk, Beeld
Johannesburg - By the end of next month you will need a certificate of competence to operate a jet ski.
In terms of new safety regulations for small vessels, anyone who wants to operate a jet ski, a boat generating more than 15 horsepower or a yacht of longer than 9m inland, will need a competency certificate from March 1.
Captain Peter Kroon, chief official of the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa), said these vessels should also have a suitability certificate, which can be renewed annually.
The competency certificate does not need to be renewed.
In order to obtain a certificate, you have to be trained by a Samsa authorised agent and then write a test.
Public dams or rivers
Safety regulations for small vessels at sea have been in place for five years.
Inland water bodies, where the regulations will now apply, include any dam or river to which the public has access, Kroon explained.
Anyone under the age of 16 or someone learning to jet ski should be under the constant supervision of an authorised Samsa agent or a skipper that has been accredited for training by such an agent.
The documentation of those people who already have a skipper's licence or a competency certificate remains valid, but Kroon recommended that they should renew it. This will cost R145, but the new laminated certificate will be more durable.
Kroon said the police's Water Wing will be responsible for law enforcement.
Arthur Moorcroft, committee member of the South African Association for Small Vessels, said the new regulations were absolutely essential.
He said recklessness and people operating vessels while intoxicated led to most water accidents.
- Beeld
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2452695,00.html
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Morocco breaks up hashish ring
14/01/2009 11:20 - (SA)
Rabat - Morocco has broken up an "important network" suspected of smuggling dozens of tons of hashish to Spain and arrested several people including members of the security forces and the navy, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.
"First findings of the investigation showed the network had important financial, logistics and human resources to acquire, process and ship the drug," it said in a statement.
Morocco is the biggest grower after Afghanistan of cannabis, the most widely used illicit drug, and the main source of hashish smuggled into Europe, mainly via Spain, UN figures show.
Morocco's hashish trade is estimated to net $12bn a year for dealers and drug barons who benefit from the complicity of local government officials.
Less than 20% of that money filters back into the Moroccan economy.
The dismantled ring used high-speed boats to smuggle "several dozen tons of hashish" into Spain from at least five Mediterranean coastal villages in the north Nador region, the ministry said.
"Several members" of the security forces and the navy were detained on suspicion of links to the smugglers, it added. It did not say how many suspected smugglers had been arrested and gave no further details and.
Security officials declined to comment, saying the investigation was still under way.
- Reuters
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2452675,00.html
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Somalia - Islamic Radicals Fight Each Other
January 13, 2009: The increased warship patrols off the northern coast have reduced the success of pirate attacks to one or two a month. Meanwhile, ransoms are being paid and the ships are leaving. When the pirates no longer hold any ships (and their crews) they will be more vulnerable to attack by Western forces (because the pirates will not be able to threaten their hostages.)
Burundi and Uganda have told that African Union that if more peacekeepers are not sent to Mogadishu, the 3,600 peacekeepers Burundi and Uganda already have their will be withdrawn. Since there is little enthusiasm for sending more peacekeepers, it looks like the current force will be gone in a few months.
In the last two weeks, clan and factional fighting in central Somalia has left over a hundred dead, and forced over 50,000 civilians to flee the area.
About 300 kilometers north of Mogadishu, several factions of Islamic radicals are fighting each other for control of towns that Ethiopian forces have pulled out of (as all Ethiopian troops are withdrawn from the country.) The most worrisome faction is the al Shabab, which advocates the establishment of a religious dictatorship to rule the country, and an alliance with al Qaeda and the quest for world Islamic domination. So far, al Shabab has been taking a beating from the larger Islamic militias. This fighting has caused about a hundred casualties in the last few days.
After four years in existence, the clan and warlord factions that comprise the Transitional National Government (TNG), cannot agree on how to choose a new leader. The TNG factions are not as warlike and active as the Islamic militias, and have lost control of most of southern Somalia.
Fighting continues in Mogadishu, including attacks on the 3,600 foreign peacekeepers (who mainly protect themselves and the airport.) The clan fighting (in the wake of the Ethiopian withdrawal) is causing about a hundred casualties a week.
January 10, 2009: Pirates accepted a $3 million ransom for the release of a Saudi oil tanker (with $100 million in oil on board). Soon after the cash was delivered, a boatload of pirates heading back to shore with their share of the loot, was swamped by high waves. Five of the pirates on board were drowned, and went down with their share of the loot. The next day, at least one of these pirates washed ashore, with his share of the loot ($153,000 in a plastic bag.) Many of the Somalis on shore blamed the warships in the area for the accident, claiming that the drowned pirates were moving at high speed through the high waves, to avoid attack by the foreign warships.
January 8, 2009: For the second time in three days, bandits killed a food aid worker and looted the food and other equipment (in one case a UN vehicle). The bandits are becoming bolder in their attacks on aid workers (most of them local hires.) The aid workers are the best source of stuff to steal. While the air workers sometimes have locally hired armed guards, this is not always the case in "safe" areas. But fewer areas are safe, as the bandits travel around looking for vulnerable aid operations.
http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/somalia/articles/20090113.aspx
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The New Anti-Piracy Patrol
January 13, 2009: Western naval forces patrolling the waters between the Red Sea and India have been reorganized. An American admiral will command Task Force 151, newly reorganized to concentrate on dealing with the Somali pirates. Task Force 150 will continue dealing with counter-terror operations elsewhere in the region. For the last seven years, several international naval task forces have been patrolling the waters near Somalia. Early on, Task Force 150 looked after shipping in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Task Force 151 looked after the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Task Force 152 patrolled inside the Persian Gulf.
The new Task Force 151 contains ships and maritime patrol aircraft from twenty nations. The ships patrol the Gulf of Aden, scaring off pirates, or rushing themselves, or a helicopter, to the site of pirate attacks. The pirates leave when a warship or armed helicopter shows up. Each of the twenty nations contributing forces to Task Force 151, have different ROE (rules of engagement). Some ships are not allowed to capture pirates, or, if they do, must put them ashore as soon as possible. Other nations have made arrangements to turn captured pirates over the Kenya, or the fragile government of Puntland (where most of the pirate bases are located.) Some nations, like France, take captured pirates back to their home country for trial.
Most of the warships escort groups of merchant ships through the pirate infested waters of the Gulf of Aden. Saudi Arabia and Egypt have increased their patrols in the Red Sea, where pirates have been spotted, but have not been active. That's probably because the pirates know that the Egyptian and Saudi sailors have orders to shoot on sight, and shoot to kill. That's an ROE a smart pirate tries to avoid.
So far, the presence of so many warships in the Gulf of Aden has reduced pirate attacks, and successful captures of ships. While 42 ships were taken in 2008, only two were seized by pirates in December. The pirates appear to be adjusting their tactics in response to all those warships. The pirates are also aware of the many ROEs, but it's unknown if any of the pirates have gone so far as to create and distribute a list of the known ROEs for the various warships off the coast. In any event, most Somalis are illiterate.
On the other hand, most of the Somali pirates are armed and quick to use their weapons. Many also go to work drunk or high on drugs. This makes them even more unpredictable and dangerous. The new American commander of Task Force 151 will attempt to increase coordination and cooperation among the 20 nations participating. This is like herding cats, but an effort is being made.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htseamo/articles/20090113.aspx
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Business Times - 14 Jan 2009
Flying high with Singapore's flag
Strong partnerships with the maritime community are crucial to nation's success
THE growth of the Singapore fleet continued through 2008, with the tonnage of ships under the Singapore Registry of Ships (SRS) growing by some 10.4 per cent over 2007 to reach 43.7 million gross tonnes (GT) as of end December 2008. Last year, the Singapore fleet grew by about 8.2 per cent to 3,843 vessels, as compared to 3,553 in 2007.
The steady growth of the SRS attests to the effective administration and 'quality flag' strategy that the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) develops and promotes since its establishment. The SRS has grown steadily by about 8 per cent a year, from 18 million GT in 1996 to 43.7 million GT in 2008.
As a flag administration, MPA's SRS is committed to promoting the highest standards of shipping. This includes implementing effective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to promote safe and clean shipping. With a large fleet flying under its flag, MPA recognises that maintaining high shipping standards and ensuring safety and security are critical for the reputation and attractiveness of its ship registry.
Singapore's recent successful participation in the Voluntary International Maritime Organization (IMO) Member State Audit Scheme (VIMSAS) is important as the audit provides an objective assessment of a member state's performance in its implementation of IMO instruments.
Captain Khong Shen Ping, assistant chief executive officer of MPA said: 'Singapore's participation in VIMSAS will enhance the state's standing in Port State Control (PSC) regimes and uphold high quality standards of ships flying the Singapore flag. This builds on MPA's efforts to develop Singapore into a premier international maritime centre.'
Since July last year, seafarers of Singapore-flagged ships had been able to apply through MPA's online Marinet for their Certificate of Endorsement (COE), a document that is required for employment on board Singapore-flagged ships. Time is saved as it used to take a seafarer seven days to obtain a certificate. Now a seafarer can obtain the COE within one-two days. The shorter processing time is crucial to ship owners as it enhances operational efficiencies. Vessels can be detained by port state inspectors if seafarers do not have original certificates.
Besides its regulatory role, SRS also provides guidance and timely advice to ship owners on issues affecting operations. The SRS's professional, reliable and efficient customer service and its responsiveness to feedback are valued by ship owners and operators.
As part of MPA's efforts to develop Singapore into a premier international maritime centre, Singapore has become a global hub, where the shipping community has easy access to an extensive range of ancillary maritime services in shipping, making the country the choice location for ship owners to operate out of, and to tap the Asian market. Maritime Singapore is characterised by its vibrant maritime cluster, stable and pro-enterprise business environment, efficient and highly-skilled manpower, and excellent transport and telecommunication infrastructure.
Today, the SRS is ranked among the world's top 10 largest ship registries, with a fleet of 3,843 vessels. The registry has also one of the youngest fleets among the top 10 registries, with an average age of 10 years. Tankers, container ships and bulk carriers make up the majority of ships under SRS.
Singapore today is regarded as a reputable flag state in the world, renowned for its quality fleet, and backed by an efficient maritime administration. This is proven by its fleets' good safety records and the registry's adoption and compliance with the IMO's international standards for shipping. The flag state has a reputation of low average PSC detention rates, and is included in the 'white lists' of two major PSC regimes - the Paris and Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding. Both memorandums aim to establish effective PSC regimes, where flag ships are examined on the basis of deficiencies and detentions to eliminate sub-standard ships.
Shipping remains a highly competitive and fast-paced industry. The strong partnerships that MPA has with its ship owners and operators and the international maritime communities are crucial to Singapore's success. It is through their support that Singapore has gained global prominence in the maritime community. The SRS will continue to maintain its reputable fleet by working closely with ship owners to ensure that their ships continue to fly high with the Singapore flag.
Contributed by Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg:80/sub/storyprintfriendly/0,4582,314079,00.html?
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ABB wins $30m order for electric propulsion systems
Systens destined for Chinese-built vessels...
ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won orders worth $30 million for electric propulsion, power generation and power distribution systems that maximize the fuel efficiency of offshore supply vessels to be built in China.
ABB will provide an integrated electric propulsion solution for each of the vessels. The equipment, including generators, switchgear, transformers, drives and motors, will be delivered to the Fujian Mawei Shipyard on the southeast coast in 2010 and 2011. Offshore supply vessels deliver supplies, ranging from drill pipe to drinking water, to drilling rigs and platforms at sea.
“ABB provides leading-edge technology and comprehensive services to the marine industry, helping customers to optimize the performance of their vessels and reduce their environmental impact,” said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB’s Process Automation division. “Our energy-efficient solutions are complemented by low-risk project execution and an extensive service network.”
Electric propulsion systems equipped with variable speed drives consume significantly less compared with their conventional diesel-mechanical counterparts, and their exhaust emissions are significantly lower. They also allow more flexible use of space on board.
The variable speed drives allow the speed of the ship’s propeller and associated machinery to be controlled precisely. This means that the equipment is subject to less stress, and maintenance costs are lower. The electric motors themselves are highly reliable and virtually maintenance-free.
China is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing markets for shipping and shipbuilding. ABB ’s presence in this market has contributed to a significant growth in market share and business volume.
http://www.shippingtimes.co.uk/item_10218.html
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Business Times - 14 Jan 2009
Watch costs, but stay shipshape
For everyone's security, vessel inspectors must ensure that safety standards are not compromised in a downturn
By DAVID HUGHES
RECESSIONS tend to mean lower standards as some shipowners who are strapped for cash try to cut corners. Even blue-chip owners look closely at costs.
But these good companies know they cannot compromise operational standards. Were they to do so, they would harm their reputation and probably find their vessels detained by port state control (PSC) authorities.
Reputation is probably most important at the top of the tanker market. The oil majors - desperately aware of the effect of an accident on their own reputations - have imposed rigorous requirements on the vessels they charter and their owners.
Nevertheless, and even in good times, some shipowners see high standards as high costs, and seek to get away with the minimum standards they can.
As an industry, shipping needs to focus even more on quality - not just maintaining it, but improving it. Well-managed companies have nothing to fear and everything to gain from such an approach.
But in the absence of robust enforcement, low-quality operators can undercut the good ones. So insisting on high standards means insisting on a level playing field - especially in a downturn.
The International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) International Safety Management (ISM) Code should mean that certain minimum standards are achieved by all operators of all commercial vessels.
But mutual liability insurer American P&I Club asks in the latest issue of its publication Currents whether this code is working the way it was intended to.
Worryingly the short answer is 'not really'.
The club notes that although the code marked its 10th anniversary on July 1, 2008, the date passed with relatively little fanfare and no particular retrospective look at how effective it has been.
William Moore, senior vice-president for risk control at Shipowners Claims Bureau (SCB) - the company that manages the American Club on behalf of its shipowner members - says more emphasis should be placed on owners rather than seafarers. Dr Moore says there are many reasons to develop and implement the code, given growing awareness of the role the human element plays in maritime casualties.
In 1995, a major revision of the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Convention was agreed and began to take effect in 1997.
But awareness was also growing about the role of shore-side management in causing casualties. It was commonly said at the time: 'Why do we have standards for seafarers operating the ship but not the companies which own the ship?'
It was a convincing argument, says Dr Moore.
The actual wording of the code is quite extraordinary, he argues. At the penultimate meeting of IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), amendments were up for consideration. Dr Moore writes: 'As chairman of the working group tasked with consolidating these proposals for consideration by MSC at that session, I was particularly impressed with the number of solid and reasonable amendments that were found to be already addressed in the code's wording. This is testament to the thoughtfulness that went into the wording of the original code.'
A well-worded code is one thing, he goes on, but implementation of these ideals is another.
SCB's principal surveyor Richard Gayton says it would appear that although the code was designed to promote a global safety culture, it has not been effective in many cases. He points out that club surveyors and PSC inspectors continue to find that various Safety Management Systems (SMS) are not functioning correctly, and sometimes not functioning at all.
Captain Gayton writes: 'It is a fact that many owners continue to struggle to implement the ISM Code because of an inadequately functioning SMS. Unfortunately, there are also owners around who like to have the code's document of compliance without putting any systems in place.'
It is evident that many SMSs are simply bought off the shelf and, as such, are generic and, normally, voluminous to cover various vessel types and scenarios. A shipowner who places this type of SMS on board, simply because it is a regulatory requirement, will probably have a weak safety culture.
This is why it is important that PSC authorities act when there are obvious deficiencies on board. And by and large, that is what's happening. Increasingly, when PSC inspectors go on board and find a ship with, say, out-of-date charts, rusted fire mains and a crew who cannot lower a lifeboat, they detain the vessel not just for specific deficiencies but also because of the failure - or non-existence - of its safety system. Every time this happens, it is good news for owners who do maintain high standards and, at the very least, implement the ISM Code properly.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg:80/sub/storyprintfriendly/0,4582,314085,00.html?
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Submarines - New Anglo-American Boomer Design
January 14, 2009: Britain has hired an American submarine builder (General Dynamics) to design a Common Missile Compartment (CMC) for Britains next class of ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), which are to begin replacing the current Vanguard class boats in 2022. The assignment specifically mentions that the U.S. Navy will use the CMC for its next class of SSBNs. This makes sense, because Britain buys the ballistic missiles for its SSBNs from the United States. It would be too expensive for Britain to design and build its own SSBN ballistic missiles. Thus the CMC will have to be designed by an American firm, with access to data on the characteristics (especially the dimensions) of future missiles for SSBNs.
Britain and the United States have long cooperated on designing nuclear submarines, especially SSBNs. The U.S. and Britain are designing two different SSBNs. But each sub will have many common features, like the CMC, and that will save a lot of money for both nations. The 18 U.S. Ohio class SSBNs were built between 1979 and 1997. The Ohios were built to serve for twenty years, but that has been extended at least 15, and possibly 30 years. In the next 5-10 years, work on a new class of U.S. SSBNs will have to begin.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsub/articles/20090114.aspx
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Business Times - 14 Jan 2009
Baltic Dry Index at highest since October
Rise due to demand to transport iron ore to China
(LONDON) The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, rose for a fifth day to more than a two-month high on demand to transport iron ore to China, the world's biggest buyer of the steelmaking ingredient.
Cash prices of iron-ore imports gained for the first time in four weeks on expectations the nation's stimulus package will spur demand from construction and auto companies. Prices at Qingdao, its biggest iron ore port, rose 7.9 per cent last week and have gained 26 per cent since October, according to Beijing Antaike Information Development Co on Monday.
China's steel production fell 12 per cent in November compared with a year earlier, according to the most recent data from the World Steel Association. Iron-ore imports slumped and the country's stockpiles fell to 59 million metric tons as of Jan 9, down 22 per cent from a record in September.
'We had a drawdown of stocks,' John Kearsey, a director at London-based shipbroker Simpson, Spence & Young Ltd, said in an interview on Monday. 'Perhaps it was overdone and now the Chinese need to come to the market.'
The index rose 17 points today, or 1.9 per cent, to 889 points, according to the Baltic Exchange. That's the highest since Oct 29. The gauge rose to a record on May 20 before slumping last month to its lowest in more than two decades.
The steel industry accounts for almost half of all dry-bulk trading, according to shipper Golden Ocean Group Ltd.
Demand for the metal and materials to make it has weakened with the global economy. The world won't see a 'significant pick-up' from the current slump until 2010, European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said on Monday.
Expectations for a sustained rebound in freight rates may be 'premature', Mr Kearsey said.
Declining shipping rates have increased the pace vessels are being scrapped, Cumberland, Maryland-based Global Marketing Systems Inc, the largest cash buyer of vessels for demolition, said in a report.
Five merchant ships are sold for breaking every day, a level 'unlike anything we've seen in the last 20 years', the report said. That's curtailing fleet supply at a time when record numbers of vessels are being built.
Daily rates for capesizes that typically haul coal and iron ore advanced 6.4 per cent to US$14,130 a day. Rentals fell to a record-low US$2,316 on Dec 2, below breakeven levels of about US$6,000, according to DnB NOR Markets ASA in Oslo. Smaller panamaxes, the largest carriers that can navigate locks on the Panama Canal, fell 0.8 per cent to US$4,212 a day\. \-- Bloomberg
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg:80/sub/storyprintfriendly/0,4582,314066,00.html?
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Surface Forces - Automated Korean Frigates
January 13, 2009: South Korea has begun construction of a new class of frigates, the FFX. These 3,200 ton ships are each armed with a 76mm gun, eight anti-ship missiles, six torpedo tubes and RAM (rolling airframe missile) anti-missile systems, as well as 30mm anti-missile cannon. The ships is highly automated, requiring a crew of only 95. Top speed is 61 kilometers an hour. Range is 7,000 kilometers. Most of the equipment (including electronics) and weapons will be locally built. South Korea plans to build as many of twenty of these ships. The first six are to be in service by 2015. The first ship in the class, the Ulsan, will cost $107 million. South Korea hopes to export the FFX to many navies who want a quality, low cost, warship. South Korea has decades of experience building robust and reliable merchant ships, and have been building a full range of warships over the last two decades.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsurf/articles/20090113.aspx
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Russian navy saves Dutch ship from Somali pirates
The Associated Press
Published: January 14, 2009
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: The Russian navy helped foil an attack by Somali pirates on a Dutch container ship in the dangerous Gulf of Aden, a maritime watchdog said Wednesday.
Six pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades Tuesday at the ship, which took evasive maneuvers while calling for help, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Malaysia.
The pirates chased the vessel for about 30 minutes but aborted their attempt to board the ship after a Russian warship and helicopter arrived at the scene, Choong said.
Pirates last year attacked 111 ships and seized 42 off the Horn of Africa, many in the Gulf of Aden. An international flotilla including U.S. warships has stopped many attacks, but the area is too vast to keep all ships safe in the vital sea lane that links Asia to Europe.
Choong said it was nevertheless getting harder for Somali pirates to hijack ships because of increased naval patrols and the vigilant watch kept by ships that pass through the area.
"The attacks are continuing but successful hijackings by pirates have (been) reduced," he said.
There have been 11 attacks in Somali waters thus far this year, with two ships hijacked. In total, 11 vessels with 210 crew members remain in pirate hands, Choong said.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991 and its lawless coastline is a haven for pirates. The multimillion dollar ransoms are one of the only ways to make money in the impoverished nation.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/01/14/news/Piracy.php
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Regards
Snooper
NNNN
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